Forum

Day 2 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The Martian sun rises again, bright and unrelenting. The arena stirs.

Callisto stumbles on a loose patch of stone. She catches herself too late - Luckily it's nothing too serious, however she has gotten a new wound on her thigh.
Later, she spots smoke rising far in the distance. A fire. A fight. Or maybe a trap.
She watches it for a long time, but turns away. Not worth it.

At their camp, Sadbread stays curled under the tarp, unwilling to face the day. They try to sleep, their back to the world.

Harleybarbie98, meanwhile, is restless. She thinks of home again, of safety. Then she moves. She wanders past red ridges and broken stone and finally finds a river, thin and slow, but clean enough to drink from. A small victory.

By morning, Lamby (former mercurii) and Glade decide to part ways. There’s no fight, no betrayal. They share one glance, a nod, before they part ways.

Elsewhere in the dust fields, the Venling kneels among a patch of Martian plants. It picks a few delicate flowers, pale purple and strange.

Night 2 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The cold sets in earlier tonight. 

Lamby and Glade cross paths again near a quiet ravine. They don't speak much, but one thing they do agree upon is to rest nearby. They sleep in shifts. Just in case.

By the river, Harleybarbie98 and Sadbread sit beneath their tarp. They don't have a lot of firewood left, but they get by.

Later, Callisto joins them. She’s shivering, face pale in the moonlight. She says nothing at first. But then, almost awkwardly, she leans toward Harleybarbie98. Harleybarbie98 hesitates but then wraps an arm around her.

In the east, perched high in a twisted tree, the Venling watches the world below.

Day 3 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The Martian sun rises heavy. The air is still, but the ground feels restless.

Across the arena, a new alliance begins to stir.
Sadbread, Callisto, and Harleybarbie98 pack their supplies and go out together. They are hunting - Every sound makes them stop for a moment, watching every shadow.

Elsewhere in the arena, Glade and Lamby wanders the dunes. They too are hunting. Not long passes, before Glade sees a drone fall from the sky. Inside she finds fresh food.

The Venling sits atop a boulder, just watching. It looks around, to the left, to the right, then down. The silence seems deafening.

Night 3 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The moons hang low over the arena, casting long, warped shadows across the red terrain. 

By the riverbed, Callisto, Sadbread, and Harleybarbie98 sit close together beneath their tarp. Their voices rise into the cold air - cheerful songs, off-key but warm.
Later, as the camp quiets, Callisto hums softly to herself, trying to fall asleep. But when the song fades, the stillness creeps in. She curls up tighter, eyes teary. She doesn't want to cry, but she does.
She shifts closer to Sadbread. Having noticed Callisto's crying, Sadbread doesn't reject. They snuggle into each other, and the silence become more bearable.

Far across the arena, Lamby and Glade share one last, though nervous, laugh for the day. They are telling each other ghost stories, just to fear something else than each other for once.
Glade eventually settles in and falls asleep.

Up high in the distance, the Venling sits curled beneath a tangle of branches. It tries to sing itself to sleep.

Day 4 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The fourth morning breaks over a quiet arena. Just the cold light of Mars and the tension from the unknown.

Callisto, Harleybarbie98, and Sadbread decide to split up for the day. They say it’s just to cover more ground - but no one says when they’ll return.

Callisto spends the day gathering scraps. She builds a small, crooked shack from tarp and stone. By mid-afternoon, a drone glides by overhead and drops a hatchet near the entrance. She stares at it for a long time before picking it up.

Not far away, Harleybarbie98 sits alone on a rocky ledge, her back to the sun. A drone drops a hatchet beside her too. She takes it without a word.

Glade and Lamby move, weaving between dunes with determination. They don’t speak, they’re hunting.

Sadbread, alone and disoriented, wanders into a rocky pit obscured by red dust. The ground gives way. There’s no time to shout.
No one sees it happen and no one hears. Just like that, they are gone.

Fallen Zhaaluuns

@SadBread 

Night 4 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The winds shift tonight. The air carries smoke.

Glade and Lamby spot a fire in the distance, flickering just behind a jagged ridge. They decide to move closer. But they don't get far before they spot Callisto standing by the flames. Hatchet in hand and body stiff with warning. It's clear that, if they decide to approach they will not get out of their safely, if at all. Glade and Lamby step back into the shadows.

When calm has fallen over Callisto's camp once again, she sits down by the fire. A while later a drone floats down through the smoke, it drops by Callisto's feet. Inside is clean water.

Far from the firelight, Harleybarbie98 watches the stars from the top of a dune. Her gaze drops to the far side of the valley, where the Venling is resting. She makes a decision to move in. 
Harleybarbie98 moves in complete silence, and before the Venling has a chance to realize its body lands, limb in the dust.

Day 5 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The sky is pale today. The wind carries dust.

Callisto wanders through the arena, exploring - Seeing where the arena starts and ends. 

From the cliffs above, Harleybarbie98 climbs steadily. She climbs higher than before, trying to find a spot where she can see everything.

Down below, a quiet betrayal unfolds. Lamby waits until Glade leaves her pack unattended, for just one moment. Lamby grabs a blade, a ration and a matchbook, before disappearing. It is clear that the alliance is over.

Night 5 of the Drekkal’Zuun
The cold is sharper tonight. The kind that creeps into bones and lingers.

Callisto sits by the ruins of her shack, staring at the ground. The fire’s gone out. She hasn’t noticed. She doesn't know if she's real or not anymore.
In the shadows nearby, Glade approaches slowly, hands raised, voice soft. She speaks carefully, hoping that Callisto will welcome her. But Callisto doesn’t lower her weapon, she seems tense.
Moments later the red sand turns more red,  Callisto still stands.

Elsewhere, across the dunes, Harleybarbie98 and Lamby run into each other by chance. They agree to truce for the night, both knowing that soon they would have to kill each other.